Mark Dayton to make case for budget, tax overhaul in State of the State

Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to make his case for pumping more money into education and overhauling Minnesota's tax system in his third State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature on Wednesday night, Feb. 6.

Dayton's spokesman Bob Hume said the governor, who was still drafting the speech Tuesday, did not plan to announce any major new initiatives but instead would focus on his vision for improving the state's quality of life, especially for middle-class Minnesotans.

He said Dayton will talk about "where we should go as a state," how much revenue it will take to get there and how to raise that revenue.

Those are the themes the governor emphasized in his budget proposal Jan. 22. He called for investing an additional $640 million in pre-school, K-12 and higher education to prepare Minnesotans for the jobs of the future. He also proposed property tax relief for homeowners and farmers.

To pay for those initiatives, he requested tax increases on the highest-earning Minnesotans and extending the sales tax to more goods and services while lowering the tax rate.

Dayton has said a dramatic reworking of the tax code is needed to get the state back on firm fiscal footing and provide revenue for the investments needed to compete in the emerging economy.

Governors traditionally use State of the State addresses to outline broad visions and new policy ideas with few details.

When Dayton took office two years ago, Minnesota faced a projected $6.

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2 billion budget deficit. Now the economy is slowly improving, and the budget shortfall is a relatively manageable $1.1 billion.

The Democratic-Farmer-Labor governor will have a more receptive audience than previously. Republicans controlled the House and Senate in 2011. This year, Democrats hold majorities in both chambers.